No Rest In S. Africa Till `Jimmy` Is Caught

April 07, 1985|By Nathaniel Sheppard Jr., Chicago Tribune.

KWANOBUHLE, SOUTH AFRICA — Late one night last week, as many residents of this black township huddled in fear behind locked doors and drawn curtains, groups of men armed with sticks, rakes, hatchets and pitchforks searched the community and the surrounding countryside for a fellow black suspected of committing wanton murders.

``We feel that we must get him before he can strike again,`` said a member of a posse that followed a trail to a desolate canyon outside of town. ``He has already attacked many people, and we fear that many of those who have disappeared recently may have been killed by him.``

For three weeks blacks here have been searching night and day for Jimmy Claasen, until recently a relatively well-off neighbor.

But during recent unrest in the township, protesters destroyed Claasen`s home and businesses, claiming he had been too closely aligned with South Africa`s white regime.

In retaliation, residents believe, Claasen has been behind a spate of shootings and kidnapings.

``The entire community is afraid,`` according to Jeanette Lucas, who said she last saw her 16-year-old brother as he was ``fleeing from Jimmy.``

``Nobody sleeps at night for fear Jimmy or the boys working for him would throw petrol bombs in the window,`` Lucas added. ``So we sit up all night watching the windows and listening for sounds on top of the house.``

The case of Jimmy Claasen underscores an important aspect of the recent bloody unrest in South Africa.

Not only are blacks protesting the racist policies of the regime, they have also moved--sometimes quite violently--against other blacks believed to be serving the regime as provocateurs and spies in the black communities.

Like Claasen, most of those coming under attack belong to the black middle class, a phenomenon that the majority of blacks here view with jealousy, suspicion and contempt.

``The government has apparently decided to create a black urban middle class in the hope of maintaining stability in the urban areas,`` said Sheena Duncan, president of The Black Sash, a predominantly white human rights organization.

Here in Kwanobuhle, the search for Claasen has been slowed from time to time by rumors that he has been sighted in other locales.

Where posses would quickly draw hundreds of residents as recently as a week ago, they usually draw about a dozen people now.

But on Tuesday, after a confirmed sighting of Claasen here, about 100 searchers quickly assembled.

Groups of men fanned out through this community of 1,000 residents, their ranks swelling as they knocked on doors seeking volunteers.

Two teenage boys led a group of men to a canyon where the youths said they had been taken by Claasen and a group of his confederates on March 23.

They described the location as Claasen`s ``hideout and court of justice.`` But if Claasen was there on Tuesday, he did not make his presence known.

The youths said they had been picked at random, kidnaped as they slept in their homes.

``We were taken to the Kinikini funeral parlor and kept in the fridge for an hour next to dead bodies,`` one of the youths said.

T.B. Kinikini, who owned the funeral home, was slain by rioters during three days of disorder that followed the slayings by police of at least 19 people near here on March 21.

His 18-year-old son also was murdered, and his home and funeral parlor were burned.

The youths said they were taken from the mortuary to the canyon, and forced to strip.

They said they were then held across large stones and beaten with rubber hoses. They displayed large welts that extended from their backs to their ankles.

``Then a hippo came,`` said one of the youths, referring to one of the armored police vehicles used here.

``We were taken to the police station. Our parents had already come there looking for us. Jimmy was standing next to the police. He said to our parents that if they did not press charges against him, no case would be made against us. Our parents were fearful, so we just left.``

When Claasen was seen the previous week, standing on a hill in the area set aside for mixed-race ``coloreds,`` several hundred people gave chase, according to Buyile Mcokaci, a resident who said he joined in the chase.

``Everybody went after him,`` he said. ``But when they came to the corner the soldiers were there. They threw tear gas so we couldn`t go forward.``

Many residents believe that the police are helping Claasen because his terrorism contributes to the impression that unrest in the township results from random black violence, not from a real concern for civil rights.

``He is working hand in hand with the police,`` said Emson Banda, head of a parents committee in the township. ``They are using him to kill people. Afterward, they can say it`s blacks against blacks. That is why we must continue our search.``